Not Normal
by xanimelover121x
Summary: The shadow police: a secret government agency that keeps supernatural criminal activity under control. Only a handful of people even know they exist. And thanks to a certain orange haired idiot, I'm now one of those people. AU, some Ichi/Hitsu
1. 1:Hitsugaya

**Yeah, yeah, I know; what's this crazy bitch doing starting another story when she's not even close to being done with her other ones. Well...I don't know the answer either. All I know is that inspiration struck, and who am I, a mere mortal, to deny it? (Yes I am very dramatic. Get used to it) I hope not, but this story may be kind of OOC. Sorry in advance. Also, this chapter's in Hitsugaya's POV. The POV will switch a lot, so pay attention to the chapter titles. They'll tell you.**

**I hope you like this! Please, drop me a review if you do, or if you see anything that needs improving. I really love reviews. They motivate me greatly!**

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Not Normal

Chapter 1

Hitsugaya

"You're about to meet a mysterious stranger," I read off my fortune cookie in a bored voice.

I was currently finishing lunch with my friends, Matsumoto and Renji. We were in the White Lily, the only good Chinese food place in town, and I was feeling full and content. I could care less about what my fortune was. The same couldn't be said about my friends.

"Oh, how come you always get the cool ones?" Matsumoto whined.

"I wonder what kind of person they'll be," Renji teased.

"A mysterious one," I answered flatly. "C'mon guys, you don't really believe these things do you?"

"But it'd be so cool if it actually came true!" the strawberry-blonde woman gushed.

"No, actually, it wouldn't. There are lots of definitions of "mysterious" out there, and I wouldn't like to run into anyone with that label anytime soon." I stated bluntly, then turned my attention to the table in front of me to tune out her imminent lecture on "Not being judgmental," and "Prejudice is wrong." She's one of my best friends, and I've known her forever, but I get tired of hearing the same exact thing everyday. Anyone would.

The White Lily was a fairly new restaurant, but it gave off the feeling of something that had been around a long time. The tables were made of old wood, and the scarlet place-mats laying on them sported intricate, woven patterns. I traced my hand along the back of a golden dragon, and then moved it to the silvery wings of some sort of firebird that seemed to be the main focus of the weaving. The eyes were blue, and the gold thread on the feet glittered in the half-light, making up the talons. It was truly a work of art. I looked over at Renji's place-mat, and was mildly surprised to find that it was different, this one with a glittering white tiger in the middle.

"Are these hand made?" I wondered offhandedly. It seemed like a lot of trouble to go through for something that would be stained and ruined by the end of the year, but it was a nice touch.

"Toshiro," Renji broke me out of my musings. I looked up. Matsumoto seemed to be finished (she was sulking; probably because she'd figured out I hadn't been listening). Good.

"Yeah?"

"Are you ready to go?" he pointed towards the door.

"Sure," I stood up. They followed suit, Matsumoto stretching out her arms, Renji pushing in his chair after her.

We walked out of the restaurant into the familiar, bustling streets of the city I'd lived my whole life in. Shops lined both sides of the street, making it a perfect spot for shopping. It was a gorgeous September day. The sun was out, and it made the normally dull city streets shine. There were virtually no clouds in the sky, and it wasn't even too hot out. Perfect. Too bad school was starting up again tomorrow. I was going into my first year of high school, and I couldn't decide if I was excited of not. There were too many factors in the decision. Both of my companions were going to be seniors. But thoughts about school could wait. For now, I just wanted to enjoy what was left of my summer vacation in peace.

We came to an intersection. My two older friends were talking amiably above the murmuring of the crowd. I listened quietly, adding in a comment here and there when I deemed necessary (A.K.A. when it started to dissolve into bickering). The traffic light changed from green to orange.

Absently, I looked around, scanning the crowd for anyone I knew. So I didn't notice the boy running towards me, weaving expertly through the crowd, all the while peeking over his shoulder nervously. I did notice him when he ran into me though. And pushed me into the street. Right in the path of a speeding car!

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Have you ever had one of those moments when time just kind of stops?

If you haven't, I don't know how to rationally explain it. If you have, then you'd understand. I could see the car moving towards me, but it wasn't going as fast as I'd first thought. My mind was completely blank, devoid of all thoughts except one.

"I'm about to die," I realized with absolute clarity. I closed my eyes, waiting for the end to come…

But it never did. Something hit me, hard, in the stomach. It knocked the air out of my lungs, and I landed with a loud THUMP on the opposite sidewalk.

I sat up, gasping for breath, brutally aware of the scratches on my arms and legs, and the bruises all over my body.

"But if I'm I pain, then I'm definitely alive," I decided.

I looked around me for my savior/the cause of the accident, and found him sprawled on the pavement next to me. He had a scrape running down his cheek, and his left arm was twisted at an odd angle. At first, I panicked, thinking that he was dead and that it was my fault. But then his eyes began to flicker open, and I let out the breath I hadn't even known I'd been holding. He glanced around warily until his eyes settled on me. I met his gaze, and was met by a pair of warm brown eyes.

"A-are you alright?" I stammered out after the initial shock.

The boy opened his mouth to answer, but shut it almost immediately as he spun to look at the sidewalk we'd previously been standing on, ears pricked up and eyes alert. He quickly scanned the crowd, eyes stopping somewhere to the far right. I followed his gaze, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. What I did see was Matsumoto and Renji staring at me, faces frozen in a mix of shock and horror. I started to raise my hand to wave, but before it even reached eye level, the boy grabbed it and pulled me to my feet.

My body protested at the sudden movement, apparently still trying to get over my recent meeting with the pavement. I winced, but the boy either didn't see or didn't care. (Personally, I put my money on the latter. The guy didn't seem like the kind of person who missed a lot, but hey, I'd been wrong before.)

"What're you-" I didn't get to finish my sentence, as the boy bolted before I could get the words out. His grip was like iron. I could only stumble after him, praying to whoever was listening that I wouldn't fall down. I got the feeling that the boy wouldn't care whether or not I was still standing, and would literally drag me to wherever it was we were going.

We kept running for what seemed like ages. I had good endurance, but even I was getting tired. The boy didn't seem like he'd even broken a sweat, which I thought was weird. I glanced behind me, trying to get a glimpse at what was making this boy run like this, but saw nothing. We'd passed into one of the storage districts in the city, and there was no one in sight. Warehouses loomed on both sides of the narrow street, blocking out all but the most determined rays of sunlight. A cold breeze blew in from one of the numerous alleys lining the street, chilling me slightly.

"What…are you…running from?" I gasped out between breathes. "Nobody's… following us!"

Just as the words passed me lips, there was a sound much akin to a clap of thunder, and the building next to us imploded. I don't know what else to call it. One minute it was normal, and the next, it was crumbling in on itself, as if the supports had vanished. Or been blown up. Dust billowed out of the collapsing building, accompanied by smoke as it began to (somehow) catch fire. The boy's head whipped around. His eyes narrowed, and he swore through gritted teeth.

His grip on my wrist tightened, and he pulled me after him into an alley. It was a dead end. He tried to turn back, but my legs chose that moment to give out. They crumpled under me, and I sank to the ground. My eyes stung from the smoke, and the dust invaded my throat, threatening to stop my breathing.

"Get up!" the boy exclaimed, pulling on my arm. There was a definite note of urgency in his voice. "We need to keep going!"

I tried to stand, but found that I couldn't.

"What's going on?" I asked, in a voice barely above a whisper.

The boy looked torn. He cast a quick glance over my head, and his eyes widened. Whatever he'd seen had shocked him. I tried to turn and look, but before I could, he grabbed my head and almost slammed it into the pavement in an attempt to avoid the rain of bullets that followed immediately after. They ricocheted off the alley walls, and I stifled a cry as a bullet passed within an inch of my head. My mind was racing, but I stayed silent, my eyes shut tight.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bullets stopped. I stayed down, wary, waiting for the onslaught to continue. But it didn't. The seconds ticked by slowly. I began to lift my head shakily. I turned to face the alley entrance, the presumed location of our attackers, but saw no one.

_'Have they left?' _I hoped silently.

But it was false hope, and I knew it. The tension in the air was almost tangible, as if the slightest sound would break the uneasy silence. It seemed as though our invisible pursuers were waiting for something.

A quiet groan came from beside me. The boy was kneeling there, clutching his arm. It was the same arm that had been injured earlier, but now it was bleeding. I gasped.

"A-are you okay?" I stammered, unsure of what to say.

"I'm fine," came the curt response. He removed his hand, and I noticed that the source of the bleeding was a cut on his forearm, probably left by a stray bullet grazing his arm.

I raised my eyes to his face. It was utterly unreadable. Only a slight tightening at the corners of his mouth alerted me to his pain. Wordlessly, he ripped one of the sleeves off his jacket and bandaged the wound with it. A few strands of his messy orange fell over his face, partially obscuring his eyes. When he finished, he reached into a pocket in his jeans and took something out. He showed it to me. I stared at it blankly. Lying in his hand was a pair of glasses.

"I don't wear glasses," I told him, wondering if he'd hit his head a little too hard after the accident.

"Put them on," he ordered, ignoring my previous comment. "You'll need them."

Still staring at the strange boy, I hesitantly reached for the eye wear lying in his outstretched palm. Once I was holding them, I examined them carefully, looking for anything unusual. They looked normal enough. The frame was thin and black, without any pictures, designs, or even a designer's name to tell who'd made them. The lenses were clear. I unfolded them, then looked back at my companion. He nodded, and I decided to humor him.

_'Whatever,'_ I inwardly sighed in defeat. _'It's not like I can get more confused than I already am. And what harm can it do? After all, they're just a pair of glasses.' _And with that thought, I slid them onto my head.

I blinked as the world came into focus. I could see just fine, but the world looked…I searched for a word…different. Everything seemed sharper, clearer. I looked to the boy. He gave me a small smile, then pointed behind me. I turned slowly; curious as to what I would see now that would be any different from before. I stared at the alley entrance, and _something_ began to come into focus. It solidified. My eyes widened at what I saw.

Now, let's get something straight. I didn't believe if magical creatures. They were illogical. So obviously the people (and I use that word very loosely) in the alley entrance didn't exist. Or I was dreaming. Because there was just no way they were real. They couldn't be.

I blinked once. Twice. Three times. Nothing changed. So I must have been dreaming. How did I know that so certainly? You would have too if you'd seen them.

There were ten in all. The five in the front were covered from the waistband of their jeans up in long, coarse hair. Their jaws were somehow extended from their faces, giving them a decidedly canine appearance, and their mouths were lined with sharp, jagged teeth. Extending from their hands (or paws, from the look of them) were lethal-looking claws, five on each hand. Their yellow eyes held a predatory glint, keen and deadly. I shivered involuntarily.

Behind these wolfish creatures stood three women. Well, floated, actually. I'm serious, their feet must have been a good two feet off the ground, possibly more. Their skin was a sickly shade of pale green, laced with darker patches around their hands and bloodshot black eyes. The women's hair colors varied from black to orange, but it all clung to their too-thin faces in stringy, limp strands. Their faces were distorted by what might have been called smiles by some, but looked more like grimaces to me. Altogether, they weren't a pretty sight.

The remaining two at least looked normal, despite their strange company. The first was a busty young woman who looked remarkably like Matsumoto. Her brown hair fell in wavy curls to the small of her back, and it made soft swishing noises when she moved. She wore bright red lipstick, and elegant black sunglasses hid her eyes. Of course, what really caught my attention was the machine gun propped up on her hip.

Her companion, also wearing sunglasses, was a green haired young man, probably in his early twenties. He seemed to be in remarkably good shape. As a matter of fact, they both did. It was easy enough to see, even though they were both wearing long sleeved suit jackets and pants. I vaguely wondered how they weren't dying in the heat. Yeah, it was nice for this time of year, but summer's still summer.

The woman caught me staring, and flashed a smile. I couldn't help but notice how the sun glinted off the two fangs protruding from the top of her mouth. My breath caught in my throat.

"This isn't happening," I tried to assure myself. "I'm dreaming. Vampires, witches, and werewolves don't exist. I'm definitely dreaming. I _have_ to be."

"Speechless?" asked a voice from behind me, half mocking, half serious.

I turned to face the boy. I'd almost forgotten he was there. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth; he was obviously amused by my reaction at seeing our pursuers.

"What the heck is going on?" I asked for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Who are those people? _What _are they? Why are they chasing us? Wha-"

"Please be quiet," the boy cut me off, massaging his temples wearily. "You're giving me a headache."

"Are you stupid?" I exclaimed angrily. "How could I be quiet in this situation? I'm normal. When I don't get something, like now, I ask questions!"

"Look," he said irritably, effectively silencing me. "I didn't say you couldn't wonder what's going on, you loud boy. All your questions will be answered soon, I swear. Just not now."

I probably would have ignored him and continued right on with my rant had the male vampire (if that's indeed what he was) not spoken up.

"Did you really think you could get rid of us with such a stupid trick?" he sneered. I looked at him quizzically, not understanding. The boy, however, had no such problem.

"Seems like it worked well enough to me," he replied with a smirk. "I set that trap days ago. I'll assume you found it yesterday, so it took you long enough to find me again. I feel that it was pretty effective." He tilted his head slightly, as if considering something, then, as an afterthought, added, "Or maybe you're as incompetent in telling time as you are in tracking, and you haven't even realized it's been an entire day? If so, I'd be glad to explain the basics of both to you."

One of the werewolves let out a confused growl. He didn't seem to fully get what had been said, but I think he could tell that it had been an insult. The female vampire shifted her gaze from the male to glare at the boy over her sunglasses. Her eyes glittered red.

Now, with all the strange stuff that had happened to me, you'd think I'd be used to that sort of thing. But trust me, I wasn't. I was just as surprised as ever. I glanced over to the man, but his sunglasses were still in place. His _face_ was an interesting shade of red though, and it was contorted into a look of utter loathing and hatred. The object of this hate, however, didn't seem to care.

The boy stood, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of his face. He reached a hand out to me. I accepted it, and he pulled me to my feet.

"Can you stand on your own?" he asked.

I tested my legs, and they seemed fine. I nodded.

"Good," he said. "Stay here. This won't take long."

He reached under his jacket. I caught a glimpse of a silver chain looped around his waist, and two gun holsters clipped onto it. I gulped when he moved to grab the weapons inside.

He pulled out two identical silver handguns. They were made entirely of metal, and he held them with the confident ease of someone who knew what he was doing. Etched onto the sides was a strange insignia. The design of the symbol was simple. A triangle sat in the center with a circle surrounding it. The lines were thick and black, and neither shape was filled in, creating a sharp contrast against the bright metal.

He pointed the barrel of one of the guns towards my feet, and fired three quick shots. I stared at the smoldering landing sites. The ground under me shook suddenly, and I almost fell over again.

Three pillars of blue light erupted from where the bullets had been, soaring into the sky, then spreading until they met the next pillar, creating a triangular barrier of shimmering azure light. I raised my hand cautiously, reaching out to rest it on a wall. It felt solid enough, but when I pushed slightly, it gave out, and my hand passed through effortlessly. The light was cool and pleasant to the touch. I looked at the boy, and he smiled.

"You can get out, but no one else can get in," he explained, rapping his hand against the wall to demonstrate. True enough, it held firm. "You'll be safe in there."

He turned to walk away, but stopped when I grabbed onto his coat.

"What?" he asked, puzzled.

"Your name," I replied. "What's your name?"

At first, I didn't think he was going to answer me. Honestly, I didn't even know why I'd asked. I just felt like I had to know. He looked at me, surprised by the question. "My name?" he repeated.

"Yeah," I insisted stubbornly.

He continued to stare, but finally, nodded.

"Ichigo," he stated with a small smile. "Ichigo Kurosaki."

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**Okay, I know I made some major changes in just about everything, but hey, it's an AU story. I know the beginnings kind of confusing, but explanations will come eventually. I promise. And with that, I only have one thing left to say: Please review! ^^**


	2. 2:Ichigo

**Wow, second chapter already. I don't know how fast updates are going to be for this, but I think I want to at least try and get a few chapters out fairly quickly. No promises though. This chapter's a little shorter than the last one, but I'm already writing the third, and it looks like it's going to be _ridiculously _long. I don't know the exact numbers yet, but it's already 9 pages on Open Office, and it's not even done. This chapter's 6 pages, by the way. I've tried to break the other one up, but just can't. **

**A big thank you to those of you who reviewed, favorited, or added this story to your alert list. You make me very happy! Alerts and favorites are great and all, but what I really love is reviews. Those make my day, so if you could just take a minute at the end to tell me what you think, I would be very happy. ^^**

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Not Normal

Chapter 2

Ichigo

"Ichigo Kurosaki," I replied.

I don't really know why I told the boy my name. Call it a whim. In all actuality, he wasn't even supposed to know I _existed_, much less my name. Nobody was. I'd been sent to capture a few rogue werewolves and ghosts. Seemed simple enough. But it was my first week on the job, and I'd already almost killed an innocent civilian, dragged said civilian across half the city, and broken the number one rule of my line of work, "Never let humans see what's on the 'other side'." Well. Guess I screwed that up pretty badly. And the worst part was that I hadn't even realized I'd grabbed him! I know how stupid that sounds, but I'm so used to protecting people that I just kind of instinctively grabbed the kid. Ukitake was going to kill me.

I disentangled his hand from my jacket. He seemed satisfied with my answer, as he withdrew the appendage back into the barrier. I then turned to glare at the cause of the current situation: Di Roy and his followers. The vampire was one of the rogue vampires I'd been assigned to kill, and had spotted me tracking him and his group because of some carelessness on my part. They'd had been chasing me for the past few days. He was more of an annoyance than an actual threat, but he was an annoyance I was quickly growing tired of. So today I planned to get rid of him. Permanently.

"Impressive light show," Di Roy commented mockingly.

"Glad you think so," I smiled back at him.

We stared at each other for a minute or so before I broke the awkward silence.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you gonna attack me?"

"Impatient?"

"My time here's limited. I, unlike some other people," I stared pointedly at him, "Have more important things to do than have a staring contest that we both know I'd win anyway."

His eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

_'This is fun,'_ I decided mentally. Out loud, I only asked innocently, "Waiting for someone?"

"Who would I be waiting for?" he growled out.

"Someone who might actually stand a chance against me?" I suggested. "Or someone for you to hide behind? Either or."

Let me get something out of the way quickly: _I_ don't like starting fights. I like to see the other person's first move, and then devise a plan from there. So I antagonize someone else to start the fight for me. And Di Roy was falling for it, hook, line, and…! A knife whizzed by my head, just missing me, and embedded itself in the wall behind me, breaking my train of thought.

_'Sinker,'_ I finished, congratulating myself. Di Roy held another knife ready, arm poised to throw, face twisted into a snarl.

"You seem a little cranky today," I couldn't resist one last jibe. "Low blood sugar?"

That got him.

He swore at me colorfully, then roared, "ATTACK!!"

The werewolves came at me first, baring their fangs and claws. They could run faster than any ordinary human. Good thing I wasn't ordinary.

I dodged under the first one's claws and landed a quick punch to the ribs. He doubled over in pain, and using his head as a springboard, I jumped, firing two shots in rapid succession as I did. The first hit one of the beasts in between the eyes, and the second lodged itself in another's neck. They didn't bleed. They didn't have time. I'd given them both fatal wounds, so instead of bleeding like they would have had I hit them anywhere less deadly, they disintegrated into black dust, which was then blown away by a vagrant gust of wind. I then fired down, killing my "springboard." He didn't bleed either. I rarely miss.

I landed gracefully on my feet, eying the remaining two werewolves. They circled me warily, and I patiently waited for them to make a move. I didn't have to wait long, as patience isn't one of their greatest assets.

In an obviously well thought out, creative move (sarcasm), they charged at me simultaneously. I stayed where I was, then stepped back at the last second, letting them plow into each other headfirst. I swear I heard a hollow sound when their heads collided.

I raised my guns to fire at the two dazed creatures, but stopped when I heard the whistling sound of something slicing through the air, a barely perceptible sign of attack that I'd grown to recognize from training with my guns for so long. I dropped to the ground and rolled behind one of the wolves just in time, for even as I moved, icy shards as sharp as knives pierced through the space I'd just been standing in. The onslaught continued, moving to follow me. I crouched behind the lycanthrope, and I heard two loud yelps of pain as the shards reached the werewolves.

Warm liquid hit my cheek, and I looked up. The attack hadn't stopped, as I'd thought it would, but had instead hit the two wolves full force. I moved to touch the liquid that flecked my cheek with a finger. When I removed it, the finger was covered in red. I stared at the wolf men in front of me in shock as they slowly disintegrated into dust.

The ice had stopped, so I stood. I'd forgotten how these creatures lived. "Show no mercy," was like a motto for them. When something wore out its use or got in the way, they got rid of it. It's not so different from what I did, but I chose to ignore that at the moment.

I looked at the witch who had cast the ice spell in cold fury. She smiled at me, a grotesque expression on a witch, acting as if she hadn't just killed, no, _murdered_ her two comrades in cold blood. Her red hair whipped around her face as she began to cast a second spell, another ice one by the look of it. I fired once, killing the offending woman. Betrayal doesn't sit well with me. I don't care where or how I see it, whenever I do, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don't know why, it just does.

Unfortunately, because of my little act of justice (?), I didn't see the other two witches casting an electricity spell until it almost hit me in the back. I dodged just in time, and the ball of crackling yellow energy landed harmlessly on the ground, but I couldn't quite avoid the rain of bullets from the vampire girl's machine gun that followed immediately after. A few of the deadly projectiles grazed me in the leg. I winced in pain. Running would be more difficult now, and if I didn't stop the blood welling from the wounds soon, I'd be in trouble. Wonderful.

Using a last burst of speed, I moved in front of the vampire, then dropped into a crouch and swung one of my legs around, sweeping her feet out from under her. As she fell, her gun left her grip and landed on one of her legs. She let out a screech of pain, but it didn't last long, as I hit her over the head with the barrel of one of my guns, knocking her out. I wasn't in much of a fighting mood anymore. I just wanted this to be over.

I heard another ball of energy being thrown at me, and turned.

_'Enough of this,'_ I thought wearily.

I raised my guns and shot into the energy. The ball stopped for a second, and then began to spin. Faster and faster it spun, until it was just a blur of yellow light. I ducked and covered my ears, already knowing the outcome. The witches, on the other hand, just stared at it in fascination. So they were completely unprepared when the blur exploded with a tremendous BOOM! The women were blown back, screaming shrilly, until their bodies collided with the alley walls. They went silent. I didn't know if they were dead or unconscious, but either way, it didn't really matter to me. They were out of the fight, and that's what was important.

All that was left was Di Roy. I unfolded myself from the crouch, then looked to check on the white haired boy I'd almost forgotten about. He had been blown back into one of the barrier walls by the blast, and was rubbing his ears, which were most likely ringing. Other than that though, he seemed fine, so I turned back to the vampire.

"And then there was one," I muttered just loud enough for him to hear, placing one of my guns in it's holster. I'd only need one for this.

He was scared, of that I was sure. I slowly limped to where he stood. He raised his knife protectively, but I shot it out of his hand. Di Roy turned to run, but by then I'd already reached him. I grabbed him by the back of his jacket, turned him to face me, then fisted my free hand in his shirt, lifting him slightly off the ground.

"Who sent you here?" I asked in a low, no-nonsense voice.

"I-I don't know what you mean," he stammered slightly. Sweat beaded his forehead. Apparently, he was now scared _and_ nervous.

I shot down, narrowly missing his foot.

"I'm not in the mood to play games, Di Roy," I growled out. "You have five seconds to answer me. One."

"You're not seriously going to kill me if I don't answer you, are you?" he asked.

"Two,"

"C-c'mon, let's be reasonable,"

"Three,"

"You don't understand, I can't-"

"Four," I said, aiming my gun at his head.

"Alright!" he cried. "I'll tell you."

I stopped counting, but didn't move my gun.

The vampire took a deep breath. "W-well, I work for a guy, sure, b-but he didn't send me here. He d-didn't even know I was following you. I've never even personally m-met him," he babbled nervously. My eyes narrowed. He saw it, and stopped with a gulp.

"_Now_, please. My patience is wearing thin."

He opened his mouth again. "I work for-"

Before he could continue, the vampire started choking. He let out a strangled scream, eyes bugging out of his head in fear. Around his neck, a circle had formed. It was red, and stood out against the man's pale skin. Written into it were strange characters that I faintly recognized as a silencing charm, one that took away the victim's air, and more importantly for a vampire, who doesn't need to breathe, drained their blood.

I dropped him quickly, then knelt by the dying vampire's side.

"Who did this?" I cried, praying he could still hear me. "Answer me!"

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to him.

"S-Sexta," he gasped out, so quiet that I could barely hear him. But I did hear him, and I almost wish I hadn't.

"You're kidding right?" I asked, letting the question hang in the air. I didn't get an answer. And I never would.

****

Later that day, unbeknownst to me, a teenager was walking through the busy streets of the same city. Their cell phone rang. They reached for the device, and flipped it open.

"Yeah?" the boy asked.

"Di Roy was killed by the sealing charm ten minutes ago," a monotone voice answered from the other side of the phone.

"Di Roy?" he repeated, then sighed dramatically. "I'm so goddamn tired of small fries thinking they can do anything. They're weak, and they should just accept it. Every time one of them dies, I have to replace them, and it's getting to be a pain in the ass."

"I can imagine," the voice sounded amused.

"So who was he fighting?" he asked casually, apparently done with his complaining, as he walked into one of the city's many parks.

"A boy working for the shadow police, I believe,"

"A cop, huh?" he mused quietly, more to himself than the person on the other end of the line. "Alright, thanks for letting me know."

"Always a pleasure," the voice answered with a hint of sarcasm that wasn't lost on the teen.

"Was that sarcasm just now?" he asked, but was met with silence. He sighed again, then dialed in another number and brought it back to his ear.

"Hello?" The person on the other end answered cheerfully.

"Why the hell are you answering?" the young man asked, annoyed. "Where's the boss?"

"Out," was the unhelpful response. "Is this who I think it is?"

"Who do you _think_ it is?"

"I knew it! How come ya never call? I've missed talking to ya ever since you moved to Japan." They paused for breath, then continued. "Unfortunately, knowing you, I doubt this is just a social call. What do ya want?"

"Nothing, really," he stopped walking and sat down on one of the many benches dotting the park. The sun was still high in the sky, and it was shining brilliantly. Birds soared up above, free and oblivious to the people below. Bees and other insects buzzed lazily through the air, occasionally landing on the bright flowers throughout the park, and children were playing kickball on the grass surrounding a nearby fountain. The bench the young man was sitting on was partially shaded by a tall oak tree, providing a welcome escape from the day's heat.

"Uh-huh," the voice wasn't convinced.

"I just wanted to ask about the shadow police. I keep losing men to them, and it's getting annoying."

"Then maybe ya should take better care of your men," the voice teased.

"I'm a genius, not a god," the youth responded flatly. "Please don't ask for the impossible."

The voice laughed. "Leave the police alone for now."

"Why?"

"Because," the voice adopted a tone one might use on a small child. "A game isn't any fun without opponents."

"I don't understand you at all," the boy grumbled.

"And that's how it should be, Sexta," the voice said with deadly seriousness that hadn't been there before. The call ended.

Chills ran up the boy's spine at those last words. Suddenly, the day didn't seem quite so warm. He glanced up towards the heavens, as if they held all the answers. Bright blue eyes caught the light as they searched the seemingly infinite blue sky, making them shine even brighter. Sexta sat where he was for hours, waiting until the sun began to dip below the horizon. As the last rays of light left the sky, he stood wearily, and began the long walk home.

"I don't think I ever _want _to understand you either," he muttered under his breath.


	3. 3:Hitsugaya

**I'm back with a new chapter! I'm sorry that last chapter was so confusing. I didn't mean for it to be, it just sort of turned out that way. But I promise, I think by chapter...7, maybe, almost everything will be sorted out. Hopefully earlier (I suck at estimating).**

**Like I said, this chapter is _long_! 15 pages on Open Office. 15! That's without a doubt the longest I've ever written for one chapter, and I'm sorry to say it may be one of the last ones of its kind for a while. Long chapters just aren't my specialty. This chapter has some OC's and Ukitake, who I love! Once again, the characters may be a bit OOC.**

**Once again, gigantic thanks to the people who reviewed. I love you all!**

* * *

Not Normal

Chapter 3

Hitsugaya

I stared up at the building in front of me with a mixture of disbelief and apprehension. I was (according to Ichigo) standing in front of the headquarters of the organization he worked for, and I'll be honest, I was surprised. Openly shocked and staring was probably a better definition of the feeling. After all, I was staring at the building I'd had lunch in less than two hours ago. The headquarters of a secret government organization that was only known to a few…was the tiny Chinese food restaurant, the White Lily. Yeah.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked Ichigo.

"You were expecting something different?" He sounded amused.

"Well, yeah,"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Something more impressive, or bigger, or-"

"Completely obvious?" he finished.

"…"

"Toshiro," he began to explain slowly, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "The organization I work for is, for all intents and purposes, _police_ for the supernatural. Do you have any idea how many creatures wish we weren't here, so they could do whatever they wanted? The last thing we need is to have a big, shiny building advertising our whereabouts. I may as well wear a flashing neon sign around my neck saying, 'Hey, I'm a shadow cop! Who wants to beat me up?'"

"That's Toshiro-san to you," I snapped, ignoring the sarcasm. I just met the guy, so why the hell's he using such familiar terms with me? "What's a shadow cop?"

"Follow me and you'll find out," he walked towards the door, and I had to jog slightly to catch up.

After the fight with the vampire (I'd stopped trying to rationalize the situation and just started going with the flow) Ichigo had asked me my name. "I gave you mine, now you give me yours," were his exact words. After I'd told him, he'd told me to follow him to headquarters. I'd followed out of curiosity, not any real feeling of obligation. After all, it was his fault I was in this situation in the first place. Why had he felt the need to drag me along with him?

He led me into the restaurant/HQ. The building itself was made of white wood, with a black, shingled roof. There were a lot of windows, and the door was glass. Over the door hung a sign. It was shaped like a lily, and painted white. Across the center, in curling gold and green letters, was the restaurant's name.

The inside of the building was lit with what looked like paper lanterns, but were probably just paper shades over light bulbs. Still, it was a nice touch. A few people were scattered throughout the establishment, but it was mostly empty. The walls were painted a light brown, almost tan, color, and the floor was carpeted in forest green. Dark wood tables took up most of the space, but there was a sushi bar in the far corner. A young Asian man behind the bar handed what looked like a plate of spicy tuna rolls to an equally young couple, who seemed more interested in each other than the food.

Ichigo walked past the sushi bar, completely ignoring all this. I hurried after him. He led me to a private room in the back. The color scheme was the same as the main part of the restaurant, and in the center of the small room stood a long wooden table, probably big enough to seat ten or fifteen people. He maneuvered around it and pressed his palm to a Chinese painting, depicting mountains, which was hanging on the far wall. The picture glowed faintly, and the room started to shake. Rumbling, grating sounds could be heard from the walls, and my stomach lurched. I had the briefest sensation of falling, and then the elevator, for that's what I think it was, shuddered to a halt without warning. I fell back on my butt at the sudden stop. Ichigo, who had been leaning on the wall next to the painting, looked at me with raised eyebrows, his look clearly conveying, _'Couldn't you at least act a little more graceful?'_

"Shut up," I grumbled.

"I didn't say anything," he answered innocently.

"I know what you were thinking."

"I doubt that."

He smirked at me, and then walked back to the door. He turned the knob and pushed it open.

"What's that supposed to…!" I stopped short when I saw what was on the other side of the door.

_'Black and white.' _That was my first thought. The hallway in front of me was just that. Harsh white lights on the ceiling glinted of the shiny, coal black floor. The white walls reflected the light back at us, momentarily blinding me. I squinted slightly.

"Is blinding your guests one of the shadow polices' customs?" I asked rhetorically. "Or is it to intimidate the criminals?"

"Interesting choice of response," was the amused reply. I hadn't been expecting an actual answer, so I wasn't disappointed.

He started down the hall, and I trailed after, still blinking spots out of my eyes. Doors of all shapes and sizes lined the hallway. I read a off a few of the names from black plaques nailed to the doors. "Testing Room One" marked a big steel door on the left. "Armory" marked another, this one slightly smaller and made of a lighter metal. "Training: Hand-to-Hand Combat and Swords" was a medium sized, wooden door on the right. My gaze wandered from left to right as I tried to memorize what door was where. I was so engrossed that I didn't notice that Ichigo had stopped until I ran into him.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"This one," he motioned towards the door in front of him, labeled "Ukitake's Office." Under the plaque was a much messier sign made of paper, with the words "Go away. I'm busy." scrawled in red letters.

"He has such a way with people," Ichigo commented after seeing the sign.

"Um, are you sure?" I glanced at the sign with apprehension. "I don't want to get my head bitten off because I didn't pay attention to the sign."

"Don't worry," he assured me. "He only bites if you wake him up when he's sleeping."

I stared at him in shock, and he burst into laughter.

"You should see your face!" he managed to get out.

"Jackass!" I yelled, and punched him in the arm. "Don't scare me like that!"

He continued laughing, and I felt the heat rising in my cheeks. I turned towards the door and pushed it open angrily.

"Hello?" I asked nervously, my anger dissipating the second I stepped into the room, leaving only nervousness in its wake.

"Hello," came the blunt response. I stared at the speaker.

He was a thin man, probably in his early thirties. His long hair was white, and his skin wasn't much darker. Calm brown eyes studied me from across the room. His chin rested on his folded hands, while his elbows rested on the desk in front of him. The desk was shiny and black, like the floor, and like the rest of the sparse furniture in the room. The bookcase, the chairs in front of the desk, the laptop resting on the desk: all black. The only thing colorful things in the room were the walls, which were painted a light blue color. The office revealed nothing about the person occupying it, except possibly what his favorite color was. Nothing was personal, only cold and uniform.

"Ichigo, you can stop hiding behind the door," Ukitake, if the plaque outside was correct, sighed. The man seemed to relax a bit, and as he did, so did I. I turned around, and sure enough saw the orange haired teen stepping out from behind the door frame and into the office.

"Hey, Ukitake-" he was cut off by the pen that lodged itself in the wall by his head, missing him by an inch. His eyes widened in shock.

I turned back to the man, but he appeared not to have moved since I walked in.

"What the hell was that?" I heard Ichigo cry from behind me, but was instantly silenced by the pencil which whizzed past his head and imbedded itself beside the pen. This time, I had caught a tiny flash of movement, but it had been so quick that I had to convince myself that I'd seen it.

"Ichigo," Ukitake started calmly. Somehow, it seemed scarier than if he'd yelled. The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.

"Yes?" the boy asked hesitantly.

"What is the _number one_ rule when dealing with ordinary humans?"

"N-never let them see what's on the 'other side'."

"Good," Ukitake continued icily. "The words themselves seem to have made it through to you. However, the _concept_ of the rule seems to have escaped you."

"Has not!"

"Really? Then would you please be so kind as to explain to me what he," he motioned to me, never once taking his gaze off of Ichigo, "Is doing here?"

"Um…"

"No excuses?"

He stayed silent.

"I didn't think so," the man stated with a note of finality. "We'll discuss your punishment later. Now, onto the matter at hand." His gaze moved to me, and I suddenly had the urge to hide from the intense stare. I stood my ground though, and met his eyes evenly. I saw a small smile of approval ghost across his lips, but it was quickly gone, leaving me wondering whether it had ever been there to begin with.

"You must be very confused, Sir…" he let the words hang in the air, an obvious question.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya," I answered. "And you're right, I am. What's going on? Why did that group of," I searched for a word.

"The Espada's men," Ukitake supplied

"What?"

"You were attacked by a group of rogue creatures, working against us, under the supernatural crime lords known as the Espada." he explained.

"Who gave them that name?" I asked, wondering at the odd choice.

"They did," Ichigo answered. I looked at him questioningly. "When they began to grow in power, that's just what they started calling themselves."

"So this stuff, this ridiculous, fairy tale stuff, really exists?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes," Ukitake confirmed. "Though we prefer to call them supernatural creatures, or just supernaturals."

"Vampires are real?"

"Yes."

"Werewolves?"

"Yes."

"Ghosts?"

"Yes."

"This is insane," I decided.

"Yes," this time, it was Ichigo who answered. I turned to glare at him. He smiled. "Well, it is. You just get used to it after a while."

I decided to ignore him.

"So, everything I heard in those fairy tales when I was _three_," I emphasized the last word. "Are real?"

"Not exactly." the white-haired man answered.

"What do you mean?"

"Faeries, dwarfs, elves, dragons," he listed. "They don't exist."

"Dragons don't exist?"

"Do you see them walking around in the streets?"

"I didn't see the vampires either," I retorted sulkily.

"They don't exist." He said firmly, ending it.

There were a few moments of awkward silence. Eventually, I broke it with a curious, "So what now?"

"What do you mean?" Ukitake asked.

"I'm not supposed to know about any of this, am I?" I questioned. He shook his head in response. "So what do we do now? Do you erase my memory? Or make me swear to an oath of secrecy?"

"Something tells me you're not taking this seriously," Ichigo commented dryly.

"Gee, how'd you guess?" I asked, annoyed. He just shrugged.

"Call it intuition."

"Call it lucky. Or dumb."

We were interrupted by a muffled laugh, and turned to face the room's other occupant.

"Ukitake," Ichigo started hesitantly. "Are you...laughing?"

"Am I not allowed to laugh now?" the man composed himself quickly, but he seemed to be in a more playful mood than before.

"Huh? No! I mean, yes! I mean..." I smirked. He shot me a dark look. "I just almost never hear you laugh," he finished lamely.

Ukitake dismissed the poorly-worded comment with a wave of his hand. "I'll disregard your apparent inability to form proper sentences for the moment," he said with dry amusement. The redhead looked like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. Most likely a wise move. Instead, he settled with grumbling angrily to himself in the corner. The man watched him with raised eyebrows for a moment, then smiled at me.

"I like you," he declared. "Want a job?"

"What?" The words had been so unexpected that it took me a minute for the words to fully register.

"I'm offering you a job," he clarified. "We're low on personnel, and I think you'd do well here."

"What's the catch?"

"Does there need to be one?" He looked genuinely surprised.

"There's _always_ a catch."

He thought for a moment, then, "Well, you'd probably have to be his partner." He pointed to Ichigo.

"Partner?"

"All of our agents work in pairs. It's a necessary precaution," he explained. "As you've seen, some of our missions can get a bit dangerous, so it's good to always have someone to watch your back."

"Oh yeah!" I exclaimed, suddenly remembering Ichigo's wounds. I turned to him. "Your arm and leg. Don't you need to get them looked at?"

After the fight, he'd ripped off the other sleeve of his jacket and wound it around his leg. He barely limped on the way here, so I'd forgotten about it.

"You hurt yourself?" Ukitake asked, looking for the wounds. Ichigo shifted uncomfortably under the searching gaze. He turned to glare at me.

"It's nothing," he tried to brush it off, but by then, his white haired superior had already found the bandaged areas.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," the man mused, then pointed at the door. "Go get those looked at."

"But-"

"Now!" He'd barely raised his voice, but it had the desired effect. Ichigo walked to the door and opened it. He sent one pleading glance over his shoulder, but his superior stood firm. With a sigh, he exited, slamming the door behind him.

"Did I get him in trouble?" I asked, sort of caring despite myself.

"No, not really," he leaned back into his chair wearily. "He just doesn't want people worrying about him. I can't believe he didn't tell me about them sooner."

"I see," I said, sympathizing with the man. My cousin Hinamori was like that too. The thing was, where she would get some scratches and cuts from falling out of a tree, Ichigo was taking bullet wounds. I think there was a bit of a difference.

"Anyways," he continued, rubbing his temples to try and rid himself of the headache that dealing with Ichigo always brought. "The job offer still stands."

"What if I say no?" I asked.

"Then we erase your memories of today's events, and leave you alone," he said simply.

As tempting as the memory wipe was, there was something about the way the man had looked when we were discussing Ichigo that made me hesitate. The boy needed looking after, there was no question about that, and it was obvious that Ukitake couldn't always be there to do it. He seemed to think of the redhead as an annoying younger brother, or a son, and didn't want to see him get hurt. I was definitely sympathizing with the guy now. And I hated it.

"Stupid conscience," I muttered to myself.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, nothing," I said dismissively. "Can I have some time to think about this?"

Ukitake looked surprised that I was even considering the offer. I didn't blame him. _I_ was surprised that I was considering the offer. My traitorous mouth had decided to make the decision for me. Wonderful.

"Sure," he consented. "I can give you a week."

A week to decide whether or not I wanted to change my life, permanently and forever.

"Alright." My mouth betrayed me yet again.

"Please, let me escort you above ground," Ukitake stood. "I trust you can find your way home from there?"

There was a faint trace of mockery in his voice, but I brushed it aside. My mind was occupied with other thoughts at the moment. I nodded, then followed him out.

Thanks to my lack of attention, I stumbled on the way out of the office, and jammed my toe into the door. I stared at it in annoyance, then sighed.

"This is going to be a long week."

I walked into the classroom feeling exhausted. That's right. Second day back at school, and I was already wishing it was summer again. I couldn't get to sleep last night, thanks to a certain job offer plaguing my thoughts. I walked to a seat next to the window and slumped into it. It was blissfully quiet. Yesterday, the minute I'd walked into school, I'd been bombarded with questions by Matsumoto and Renji. I'd managed to come up with a semi-acceptable story, telling them that the boy had indeed saved me, and had then panicked and rushed me to a hospital to check if I was okay. Matsumoto believed me, that I could tell, but I wasn't completely sure about Renji. I thought he may have had his doubts, but hadn't been able to voice them at the time, because luckily one of my other friends, Grimmjow, had come to my rescue at that moment.

"Morning, Toshiro," called a gruff voice from behind me. Speak of the devil.

I turned to smile at Grimmjow, one of my only friends who was actually my age. Then again, you wouldn't know we were the same age just by looking.

"Morning," I replied. He smiled in response, or rather, lifted the corners of his mouth slightly out of their seemingly perpetual scowl. Grimmjow was usually scowling. That's not to say that he was unhappy, it was just...actually, I didn't know why. He was just weird like that. The guy even looked kind of weird. His messy blue hair was an unusual color on anyone, yet he insisted that it was natural. His eyes were the same electrifying color. He was well-built, and one of the best athletes I knew, but still nice in his own way. He was a good friend once you got to know him.

Not that I was one to talk about how weird other people looked. I was pretty exotic looking myself. I had white hair, that's right, _white_. No, I didn't bleach it, as everyone seemed to think. My eyes were a teal/green kind of color, not really unnatural, but definitely not common. Also, I was short. Like, really short. I'd been mistake for a grade schooler before, and it pissed me off.

"Enjoying the quiet?" he teased. I rolled my eyes.

"You have no idea," I said. I started to say something else, but was cut off by a loud, "Good morning, guys!"

"Guess Matsumoto decided to stop by this morning," I commented. Grimmjow nodded.

Renji arrived shortly after, his red hair brushed back into it's usual spiky ponytail and his tattoos showing out from under his short-sleeved shirt. We talked about how our summers had been until the second bell rang, signaling the start of class. As soon as the teacher began to talk, I let my mind wander. It was the second day since I'd met Ichigo and Ukitake, which meant that I had five days left, not including today. And I was just as torn as I had been on the first day.

The school day passed uneventfully. We didn't get too much homework, and I had a study hall last period, so I managed to get it all done. But throughout the entire day, I couldn't focus on a single class. My mind kept wandering back to superantural stuff. The two times I'd been called on, I'd had no idea what we were talking about, and one of my friends had had to show me. I knew I was acting spacey, but I couldn't help it. It was frustrating!

Finally, school ended. I was searching my jacket pockets for some money, and my hand closed around the glasses from the other day. I pulled them out in shock. I'd completely forgotten about them. Ichigo hadn't remembered to ask for them before Ukitake sent him to get his bullet wounds checked, and I was wearing the same thin jacket as before. I guess I'd taken them off at some point and put them in my pocket. Huh. The things you forget when you're following a supernatural cop to his restaurant/HQ.

Out of sheer curiosity at what I'd see, I put them on. I was standing near the vending machine (which is why I was looking for money in the first place) just in front of the school's main door. My school was made of some sort of yellow brick, with windows and doors placed along the walls every few feet. The double doors behind me were big and metal, with four glass planes breaking up the otherwise solid surface. Between most of the windows in the front side of the school were slim trees, with green and yellow leaves clustered densely on the branches. That would change once fall rolled around, but for now, the foliage still clung to the trees, completely oblivious to what was ahead. Students milled around on the sidewalk that wrapped around the school, some chatting with friends, others running to catch their buses. I should have been one of the latter group.

I started off towards my bus, but the crowd was big and disorganized, so I had to keep going out of my way to avoid bumping into other people. I was almost there when someone accidentally pushed me, sending me stumbling into a little girl. She was young, probably no more than six or seven. In the back of my mind, I wondered what she was doing here.

I managed to pull myself to an ungraceful stop right before I bowled her over, but one of my arms swung forward a little too far. It bumped into the kid's arm...or, at least, it should have. Instead of hitting her, my hand passed _through_ her arm. My eyes widened, just as the glasses slid down off my face. I caught them before they hit the ground and looked back towards the kid, but she was gone. I looked down at the glasses. Did ghosts exist? I vaguely remembered Ukitake saying something about them. I donned the eye wear once more, and the girl was there again. This time, though, she was walking away.

"Wait!" I called out, but I wasn't really expecting her to listen. After all, nobody talks to the ghost they don't know exists.

I ran after her, but unlike the girl, who could pass through the crowd (literally), I had to shoulder my way through, and that took much longer. By the time I reached the outside, the girl was already walking into the woods that surrounded the school. I followed. She was easy to keep track of through the thinning trees, and with her light blue dress and bright hair, she was hard to miss. For me.

I trailed behind her for a few minutes, wondering when she was going to stop. The forest was cooler than I expected, but the sun still broke through the gaps in the interlocking boughs of the trees in places, bringing warmth. I'd never been this far into the woods. It was soothing, almost peaceful, and it calmed me. I could have been taking a relaxing nature walk, not following a ghost girl through the trees. I should come out here more often.

Too soon though, it seemed, the kid stopped. I stayed within the tree's shadows for the moment, watching her. I'd kind of followed her out of curiosity, and now I was unsure of what to do.

The girl was standing in a small clearing, probably no more than ten feet wide. A carpet of grass covered the clearing floor, with colorful wildflowers popping up all around the edge, where the clearing met the forest. In the center of the clearing stood a single pine tree. Under the tree was a small gravestone. Oh. The girl was kneeling in front of the grave, looking at it blankly.

I walked over to her.

"Hi," I said. She didn't turn. I waved my hand in front of her face. She started, looking up at me in a mixture of surprise and fear. "I'm talking to you."

"Y-you can see me?" Her voice was quiet, but that's not why it was hard to hear. She sounded like she was talking to me through a radio, with static and tinny-sounding patches breaking up her speech.

"Yeah, I can see you, but you might want to speak up. You're kind of hard to hear." I advised.

She nodded, then asked (in a slightly louder voice), "What's going on?"

"Uh," I didn't know what to say. Luckily, she supplied the information herself.

"It was dark and cold," she said. "I-I was scared. I didn't know where I was. Then, I saw this ball of light, and I followed it. It brought me back here. I went to find my mommy." Here she paused, and I noticed for the first time the tears glistening in her eyes, threatening to fall. "I found her, but...but, she can't hear me!" The tears that she'd been holding back began to fall, but she didn't seem to notice. "I call to her every day, but she doesn't notice me! My daddy died along time ago, so I don't want her to be lonely. But she's so sad, and I think it's my fault, and I don't know why. She's not eating right, and she always stares at my pictures and cries. She comes here every other day. I don't understand. Why's my name on this stone? Why's mommy so sad? Why?"

She was crying in earnest now. I don't know what to say. How do you break it to a little kid that they're dead? I didn't want to do this! But I also realized that it might be crueler for the girl to find out in a different way. Still, how do I start?

I moved to hug her, like I used to do when Hinamori cried, but my arms passed through her. She stared at me in confusion.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

I would have rather been anywhere else on Earth rather than there.

"I don't know how to tell you this," I started. I was on my knees, so our eyes were level. Her eyes were big and trusting, and I almost caved then and there. But my resolve held firm. "But, I think," I stopped and took a deep breath. "I think that you died."

She just stared at me, eyes confused and uncomprehending. Then, slowly, painfully slowly, realization began to dawn. Her eyes widened in shock and horror.

"No," she stared down at her hands, then at her grave. "You're lying. There's no way."

Her eyes were screwed shut. I could tell she knew I was right, but I could also sense the strong feeling of denial radiating off her. She stood in a flash, and swung one of her hands at me. I just stared at her sadly as the appendage passed through my head. She stared at her hand as if it had been burned, then her eyes flashed to me, and the disbelief and hurt I saw in them almost made me start crying too. But I just knelt there, staring at her back as she ran off into the woods, sobbing. This time, I did not chase after her.

I don't know how long I sat there. I don't know when the tears of regret started sliding down my face. When I finally came to my senses, I brushed the tears away and took out my cellphone. Before I dialed the number, I took a minute to compose myself. When I was finished, I punched in the number. They picked up on the second ring.

"Hey mom," I said, pleased at how normal I sounded. "Yeah, I kind of missed the bus. Can you come get me?"

I returned to the clearing the next day, and the day after that, but I didn't see the girl. I wasn't really expecting to, and I didn't even know what I would've said had I met her again, but I still went. I knew my time was running out, but that had quickly stopped mattering, and had faded to a small annoyance in the back of my mind.

"Two days left," I reminded myself absently as I walked there yet again. I'd taken to sitting in the clearing and waiting for the girl for an hour or so after each day (in vain, I might add). I had told my mom that I was helping one of the teachers after school. I felt kind of bad for the lie, but it wasn't like I could tell my mom what I was actually doing. She'd probably freak, then send me to a therapist, and I did _not_ need that right now. Or ever. So for now, I was helping the new school librarian arrange the books in the library.

I wasn't really expecting to see anyone in the clearing that day, considering nobody had been there the others. So I was surprised to see a woman sitting next to the grave. Her back was to me, but I could tell right away that this was the girl's mother. They had the same strawberry-blond hair, and honestly, who else would be here? I coughed lightly, to alert her of my presence. I hadn't really expected her to start as violently as she did. Like mother, like daughter, I guess.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly. Her face was drawn, making her look much older than she was. She was probably really pretty before the girl's death. She still was, but in a haunting, ghostly way. She looked more like a dead person than the girl did. I realized that the girl probably would have looked like her if she'd had the chance to grow up, and that sent a sharp stab of pain through my chest.

"Me?" I winced inwardly at my response. Genius, Hitsugaya, pure genius. Who else would she be talking to? "I'm a student at the school over there," I pointed in the general direction of my school.

"What are you doing here?"

"I usually take walks around here after school," Not really a lie, but not really the truth either. I was surprised at how easy it was for me to tell the half-lie. Lying wasn't something I was strongly against, but I'd never really made a habit of it. Too much trouble, and too many chances to be discovered.

The woman seemed to accept my answer, as she turned back to the grave. There were a few minutes of silence, which I soon broke with a question.

"So, what happened?" I already knew the girl was dead, but I didn't know how it happened. I knew it was a personal question, and probably rude too, but I couldn't help it. I needed to know, and something told me that even if I saw the girl again, she wasn't likely to tell me. Besides, in two days, I might forget all this, and as weird as this sounds, I don't want to just move on with my life without doing anything.

The woman studied me, wondering why I asked, and why I was still here in the first place. Finally, she asked, "Why do you want to know?"

That threw me. I'd kind of been expecting either a yes or a no. I searched for an answer, and decided on another half-lie. "You just seem really torn up about it, and I think talking about these kinds of things usually helps."

Now it was her turn to be thrown for a loop. She did finally decide to tell me though. Apparently, my reasoning was better than I'd first thought.

"My daughter, Harmony, she died a month ago. She was only six." she said. So the girl's name was Harmony. "We were playing ball out on the lawn, and it rolled into the road. I went to go get it, but Harmony was faster. I told her to stop, but she told me it was okay, there were no cars. I followed her to stop her, but I should have been faster," her voice picked up a note of hysteria. "The car came without warning. Neither of us saw it. It tried to swerve, but it still hit her." She'd started crying, and she was definitely in hysterics now. "And it was my fault. If I'd been faster, if we hadn't been playing so close to the road, if, if..." the rest of what she was saying was lost in the tears.

I started to walk over to comfort her, but that's when I noticed the head of strawberry-blond hair sticking out from behind the pine tree. I didn't know how long she'd been here, but there Harmony was, listening to her own mother tearing herself apart with guilt, guilt that the little girl probably thought was her fault. Her eyes were swollen and red from crying, but right now, they were dry. I wondered how long that would last.

The girl ran to her mother, but she stopped just in front of her.

"Mommy," the girl called. The woman didn't respond. "Mommy," she tried again. No response. The girl's shoulders drooped.

I couldn't watch this anymore. I was wearing the glasses now, which was why I could see Harmony. I knew normal humans weren't supposed to know about ghosts and everything, but I couldn't just continue to sit back and do nothing anymore. The rules could go to hell. I was taking matters into my own hands.

"Excuse me?" I tapped the woman on the shoulder. She looked up at me. I handed her the glasses. The woman opened her mouth to say something, but I shook my head. "Don't ask questions, just put them on."

She stared at me, surprised by my authoritative tone. _I _surprised at myself. I smiled slightly, and then I guess she decided to humor me. Just like I'd decided with Ichigo. Hopefully, they'd work for her too. I watched her slip them on, and I smiled when her jaw dropped. I guess they worked.

"Harmony!" she cried. I looked over to where the girl was standing, and got a pretty big surprise myself. I could see her!

Well, I couldn't really see the finer details, but I could see her outline, and that was a gigantic difference from a week ago. The place where she was standing was shimmering slightly, and I could just make out her hair and dress through it. Interesting. I guess I'd been wearing the glasses so much that they'd started to rub off on me. Was that possible? Whatever. I'd add that to my list of questions to ask Ichigo the next time I saw him.

I turned my attention back to Harmony and her mother just in time to see the woman go to hug her. She passed through, of course. She just sat there, staring at the girl that she could no longer toch with sorrow.

"Am I finally going crazy then?" She turned her face up to the heavens, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Is this my punishment?"

"Mommy," Harmony said with all the seriousness that a six year old can muster. "You're not going crazy. I'm really here."

"Then why can't I touch you?" the woman asked.

"Because," the girl replied calmly. "I'm dead. I came back to see you again. So why are you so sad?"

"Of course I'm sad!" the woman exclaimed. "How can I not be? You said it yourself: you're gone. Your dad's gone! What do I have to live for?"

"Live for yourself!" I was surprised. The girl was wiser than her six years let on. "Live for me! Don't throw your life away. You're right, I'm gone, and I can't come back. But that doesn't mean that you should fall apart because of it. Don't let this control you. I don't want you to forget about me, but I also don't want to be the reason why you're always sad. If nothing else, think about how that makes me feel!"

The woman stared at Harmony, shocked at her daughter's sudden outburst. The girl moved and sat down next to her mother.

"I'm right and you know that," she said gently.

The words seemed to strike something within the woman. She sat up a little straighter, and brushed a few tears from her eyes.

"Yes, you are right," she admitted. "And it took me this long to see that. I'm so sorry, Harmony."

The girl smiled up at her mother, then down at her hands, which were folded in her lap.

"I can't stay for long," she said sadly.

"What?"

"I came back to Earth to see you, and to make sure you're doing well," she explained. "Now that I know you are, my time's beginning to run out. Even now, I'm fading." She held up one of her hands. The shimmering haze that still surrounded the rest of her body was indeed fading around it. It must have been even more shocking for the woman, who just stared. Poor lady. It had been a very shocking day for both of us, and she was probably worse off than me.

"No!" the mother cried. "You can't leave yet! I just now saw you again!"

"I don't have any control over it." The girl's voice was getting even harder to hear. The entire left side of her body was going out of focus. "I'm sorry our time together was so short. I'll miss you."

The woman was sobbing again. "Please don't leave me again!"

"Remember what I said today," The girl's voice was barely over a whisper as she uttered her last words. "I love you, mommy. Goodbye."

The last traces of the sparkles disappeared, and I knew without a doubt that Harmony was gone forever. Forever. I hate that word. It carries a bittersweet feeling with it no matter what. In this case, it just carried sadness.

I walked over to the woman, who seemed to have fainted. I couldn't blame her after today. Hopefully she took Harmony's final words to heart. Final. Another word I hate.

Throughout this entire scene, I'd felt like an outsider, but at the same time, I was glad I was here. If her mom woke up and thought the entire thing was a dream, then I wanted there to be someone who remembered what was said here. Someone who knew that the entire thing had been real. Someone like me.

...Which of course meant that I couldn't get my memory erased. This experience had made my decision for me. The realization came as no surprise (that in itself was a pretty big surprise to me), and it felt good to get the burden off my chest. So with a heart that was both greatly saddened and at the same time light with hope for the future, I took the glasses off the woman's face, and slipped them into my pocket. And then I started off towards the White Lily, trying to think of an excuse to tell my mom for why I was there.

The girl's mother woke up an hour later. She searched around the clearing, confused as to why she was here. Then, she remembered the strange white-haired boy and Harmony. She stood up, filled with new resolve that she was a bit confused about. It had just been a dream.

The woman looked around the clearing, trying to memorize everything about it. After all, she didn't know when she'd be back. She walked up to the gravestone and sat down beside it, running her hand along the sun-warmed stone.

"Harmony," she murmured. "I'm sorry. About how I acted after your death. I really am going to try harder from now on. Also," she paused, uncertain. What was she uncertain about? It wasn't like her daughter could hear her now. "I'm moving away. This place holds too many sad memories. I don't know when I'll be back, or if I'll ever _come_ back. But I promise, I'll never forget you. I'm just moving on. I think that's what you'd want for me."

She leaned down to kiss the top of the stone, then stood and walked away. She turned back only once, at the edge of the clearing.

"I love you," she said. As she began to walk again, the wind picked up. She thought she felt small lips brush against the skin of her cheek, and a quiet, "Please be happy." But when she looked around, she saw nothing. Must have just been the wind.


	4. 4:Ichigo

**Wow, new chapter. That was faster than I thought it'd be. This chapter's not as long, but hey, they can't all be 7,000+ words. I'm not that good of a writer.**

**Thanks a million to everyone who reviewed! You guys are the reason I'm continuing with this. Remember, review motivate me, so don't hesitate to click that little button at the end of the chapter.**

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Not Normal

Chapter 4

Ichigo

"The hell are you here for, midget?" Those were my first words when I saw him at the door. Yeah, it wasn't the nicest thing I'd ever said, but after he'd left the other day I'd gotten the lecture of my life from Ukitake. The mental pain had made the bullet wounds seem minor in comparison. I was still feeling the headache. And it was all because of the human boy now standing at the door to the White Lily. So I wasn't exactly inclined to be nice.

A vein pulsed on the kid's head, and his eyes were narrowed in annoyance. "I've made my decision," he proclaimed curtly.

That's what I thought it'd be. Why else would he be here? Ukitake had told me about his offer after the lecture. I wasn't exactly thrilled that the current bane of my existence might be my new partner.

"You sure?" I asked. "You've still got two more days."

"Yeah, I'm sure," That was it. No explanation, just that.

"Fine," I sighed. "I'll get out the mind wipe equipment."

His hand shot out to grab my sleeve as I turned to leave. I turned, and was met with teal eyes, hardened by determination. "You didn't let me finish."

"You're not serious, are you?" No reply. I was silent for a minute, then asked in bewilderment, "What made you decide to join?" I was honestly curious, but covered it up with my next comment. "It couldn't possibly have been Ukitake's sparkling personality."

"You have a problem with my personality?" asked a stern voice from behind me. I jumped.

The brat stifled a laugh, then greeted the man. He nodded in response. He was dressed in the employee's uniform for the restaurant. That's right, we worked here in our free time. Organizations like ours don't pay for themselves, so we needed all the extra money we could get. At least the uniform wasn't that bad. Black polo or button-up shirt, slacks, and dress shoes, along with a name tag. The only difference between our outfits was that my shirt had short sleeves, and his had long. That and the fact that he had a pin saying "Manager" under his name tag, but whatever. I was glad he was running things and not me. I'd probably run us into the ground in less than an hour.

"Aren't you going to invite our guest in?" Ukitake asked me.

"Nope, don't think I will," I put in just for spite, even against my better judgement. I got a slap in the head for my troubles. I was expecting it, but it still hurt.

Hitsugaya just sighed and walked past me. "Yes, I will come in," he said.

"Bring him downstairs," Ukitake instructed. "I'll be down in a minute."

I gave a noncommittal grunt. He gave me 'the look.'

"Sir, yes, sir," I said with a salute, then waved for the boy to follow me. The man rolled his eyes, then went off to take a customer's order.

We headed straight for Ukitake's office. Hitsugaya immediately noticed the absence of a certain poorly-worded paper sign. I told him that after much thought and careful consideration, he'd taken it off. (He listened to me complaining for all of five seconds, then ripped it off, saying it wasn't worth the argument and the headache that was bound to follow.) Needless to say, he didn't believe me. I didn't blame him. It sounded stupid even in my head, and it's stupidity quickly increased when I voiced it out loud.

"You probably just complained about it until he took it off," he guessed. Am I really so predictable that the boy I've known for less than a day can already guess my actions? Really?

Noticing the look on my face, he smirked, then brushed past me into the office. I followed behind, grumbling the entire time. We sat in silence for a minute or so until Ukitake came in. He took his seat behind his desk.

"So what made your decision?" he asked once he was comfortable. Hitsugaya fidgeted in his seat.

"I made a promise," he said finally. "A promise I can't afford to forget."

I looked at him, surprised.

"You won't forget everything about the past few days," Ukitake replied, looking a bit surprised himself.

"Maybe not, but I'd forget this," he answered quietly as he stared down at his hands, in a tone that dissuaded questions. "It's complicated. I'd rather not explain right now."

For a moment, we both stared, trying to figure out what had happened. My boss recovered first.

"That's fine, I suppose," he said. The boy looked up at him in relief. "Now, allow me to explain how this is going to work," Ukitake began. "Three months from now, on Saturday, December 15, an examination will be held. People from all over the country will come to it, some like you, some who've been training for their entire lives. It's our job to prepare you for that."

"I'm not the only one who wants the job?" he asked in shock.

"Unfortunately, no," Ukitake said with a hint of regret. I knew why. It was his job to judge the exams, and they were held every other year. This would be his third time judging, and he'd hated it the other times. I also knew why that was.

I had a bad habit of losing my partners quickly. And I mean really quickly. I think the longest I'd ever held one partner was two months, and that was Ukitake before he got promoted. I was sixteen now, and I'd been doing this since I was ten. Ukitake was my first partner. He'd thought of me as a brat, but he'd put up with me, and probably would have continued to do so had he not been promoted. Most of the others after that had quit after two weeks at most. The shortest partnership I'd ever had was ten minutes. That one really didn't go well. Let's just say it had something to do with a rogue vampire, a sack of flour, and a rubber chicken. Don't ask.

The white haired man had quickly gotten tired of finding new partners for me every other week, and by the time I was thirteen, he'd just started letting me do whatever I wanted. Sure, I got stuck with a new guy every once and a while, but by now, I was purposely getting rid of them quickly. Most of them just slowed me down anyways, and the few that didn't were just plain annoying. I was too used to being by myself by now to help break in a new recruit. The other two times the exams had been held, he'd really tried to find me a partner. Those two were both gone in under a day. I didn't get it. He was just setting himself up for another disappointment. I didn't see how he thought this boy would be any different than the others, and that was providing that he'd pass in the first place, which I kind of doubted. I studied him, trying to see what Ukitake thought he saw in him. He looked normal, except for that ridiculous head of hair. Did he bleach it, or was it actually possible that it was naturally like that?

I turned my attention back to the conversation just in time to hear him say he was sticking to his decision. Ukitake began explaining the actual test.

"There's a written part, physical abilities test, and a practical exam," he explained. "The written part shouldn't be too bad if you study hard. As for the other two..." he lapsed into silence. I could almost see the gears turning in his head, trying to figure out what to do with the kid.

"I know some martial arts, and I play soccer," he supplied.

"Swords," Ukitake blurted out.

"What?" Hitsugaya and I asked in perfect unison.

"You'll learn to use a sword," he repeated.

"I've never even touched a sword before in my entire life! That's a horrible choice!" he argued.

"There's no way this idiot can learn something as complicated as practical sword fighting in three months!" I chimed in.

"Shut up, both of you!" Ukitake silenced us. Hitsugaya shot me a glare about my last remark, but I ignored it. "This is my decision! You either learn how to use a sword or I'll erase your memory here and now!"

"That's blackmail!" he cried indignantly.

"I don't care," he responded, sounding a lot like a spoiled child. "I'm the boss here, so what I say goes."

"Way to not let the power go to your head," I muttered.

"I heard that, Ichigo."

"Good. You were supposed to."

He threw a pencil at me. I dodged, but just barely. Ukitake's choice of weapon's had always been throwing knives. He rarely got any field work now, but his skills hadn't diminished in the least (thanks to me). He could kill me with a pencil just as easily as someone with a gun or a knife. Maybe easier.

"Look," Hitsugaya sighed in defeat. "Let's suppose I agreed to learn sword fighting, and I'm not saying I did, how do you propose I even begin to learn?"

He gave him an evil smile, and the boy paled visibly. He looked sorry he'd asked.

"I'm _so_ glad you asked," he said, evil smile still in place. I could almost imagine him rubbing his hands together and cackling.

Hitsugaya gulped.

Ukitake stood and walked to the door, then waved a hand to show he should follow. I tagged along out of curiosity. He led us deeper into the maze of corridors known as our base, passing door after door. Finally, he stopped at a plain looking white one that was almost hidden within in the walls. I'd never seen this door before. It was labeled "Elementary Sword Fighting." Figures.

He rapped on the door a couple of times. Nobody answered. He began to grow impatient.

"Shunsui!" he hollered. We covered our ears. "I know you're in there. Open the damn door!"

Slow footsteps could be heard from the other side, and the door opened a crack. A man stepped out.

"Geez, yell a little louder next time," he muttered lazily. "I don't think the dead in France aren't quite awake yet."

I studied the man. He didn't look familiar. He looked about Ukitake's age, with long brown hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, and brown eyes half-lidded with sleep.

"If you'd answered the door the first time, I wouldn't have had to wake you up like that," Ukitake retorted, unashamed.

"Touché," the man, Shunsui, responded. "Now, what has a lowly sword instructor like myself have to offer to His Highness at this fine hour?"

"That's Your Majesty to you," the other man answered teasingly, then pointed to Hitsugaya. "I've brought you a student to torture."

"Torture?" the boy echoed. I laughed. He stomped on my foot. Damn, the kid's strong!

"I'll assume it's the elementary school student then," Shunsui observed, unaware of the death glare he was being given at the comment.

"Correct," Ukitake confirmed.

The man sized Hitsugaya up, then suddenly kicked out one his legs, attempting to knock the other off his feet. He dodged instinctively, visibly shocked.

"What was that for?!" the kid cried.

"Good reflexes," he mused, ignoring Hitsugaya. "You," he pointed at the white haired boy. "You're cornered by a mugger. What do you do?"

"Why the hell would I be in that situation anyway?," he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I said so."

"That's a horrible reason."

"Don't be a smart ass. I'm your elder, so respect me."

"The fact that you just said that proves that you don't deserve my respect."

They glared at each other for a moment, and you could almost feel the tension in the air. Then, the most unexpected thing happened: Shunsui tilted back his head and laughed.

"I like you," he decided, unknowingly quoting Ukitake. "Lot's of confidence and, what's the word, spunk? Ah, whatever. Yeah, I'll teach you."

I smirked. Ukitake nodded, then turned to Hitsugaya.

"From now on, every day after school, you're to report here. Ichigo will personally take you to this room until you remember the way by yourself. Tell your parents you've got a job here, or whatever you want," he instructed. "Everyday, you'll have a two hour lesson. Understand?"

"Yeah, I guess," he answered with a shrug.

"You guess?" was the icy question.

"Sir, yes, sir," he responded in the same mocking way I had earlier, complete with the salute and everything.

He regarded the boy with a frown, then shook his head wearily.

"Things are going to get a lot more interesting around here, aren't they?" he predicted.

We had no idea.

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**Yeah, this chapter's a lot shorter, but I don't think they'll be very consistent in length, what with the switching in POV and all. Either way, please review!**


	5. 5:Hitsugaya

**Well, this was kind of late. So many editing problems! Sorry for making you wait, but it was either that or have a chapter with seven million spelling/grammar mistakes. *sigh* I can usually check my own, but it takes_ forever_! **

**But enough of that. As always, thank you to all those who reviewed. You guys make me so happy! ^^ Please, keep it up!**

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Not Normal

Chapter 5

Hitsugaya

I stared up at the restaurant in apprehension. Today was going to be my first day of sword practice, and I was nervous. Very nervous. But I swallowed the feeling and headed for the door. Ichigo was there, casually leaning against it. He looked up as I approached, and waved. I nodded in response. Guess neither of us were really in a talkative mood. That suited me just fine.

He led me down the elevator and through the hallways that I didn't think I'd ever manage to memorize. They all looked the same! Light glittered off something at Ichigo's hip, and when I turned to look, I was met with the sight of two completely different guns than the other day. These two were white and black, with the symbol carved out in the opposite color.

"You're guns..." I started. He stopped, but gave no other indication of hearing me. "They're different."

"Yeah," he agreed, still not turning.

"Why?"

Ichigo sighed. "Those were spares. These two are my real weapons. They were in for repairs the other day, so I couldn't use them."

"What happened to them?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"My last partner cursed them," he admitted grudgingly. "Said it was a farewell gift or something."

"I guess they didn't like you," I observed, then something else dawned on me. "Wait, cursed?"

"Yeah. She made it so they could only shoot bubbles," the orange haired boy said, rubbing his head in exasperation. "Stupid shorty."

"That's not what I meant," was my irritable response. "I mean, how did she curse them?"

"Oh, she was a sorceress."

The hallways were quiet, and the only sounds were the clicking of our shoes against the tiles.

"You were partners with an sorceress?" I repeated finally.

"What of it?"

"I just didn't know you guys hire supernaturals. Will I have to compete against supernatural creatures in the exam?"

"Maybe, maybe not," he responded unhelpfully. "It depends on whether or not they decide to show up. Probably."

By this time, we'd reached our destination, and I was feeling decidedly less hopeful than I had been yesterday.

"Wonderful." Sarcasm dripped from the word.

"You'll be fine," Ichigo assured me, then began to walk back the same way we'd come from. "Good luck!" he called over his shoulder before turning a corner and disappearing from sight, leaving me alone.

"Thanks," I mumbled even though he couldn't hear me anymore. I turned to the door, and the nervousness that had disappeared while I talked with him came back full force. I just stared at it for a few minutes, then finally, decided that I may as well just get it over with, and pushed it open. I was met with a wooden sword swinging at my face. I ducked, and it just barely clipped the ends of my hair.

"What the hell was that?!" I yelled at Shunsui, my new sword instructor/assailant. The sword now rested on his shoulder casually, and he regarded me with boredom. "You could have taken my head off!"

"If you can't even dodge that, you don't deserve to be my pupil," he explained smoothly. I gaped at him.

"You're kidding, right?"

"'Fraid not," he studied my clothes critically. "You're not seriously going to practice in _that_ are you?"

I looked down at my outfit, an unzipped blue hoodie with a T-shirt underneath, jeans, and sneakers.

"What's wrong with it?" I asked defensively.

"Well, you won't have a big of range of movement with it, that's for sure," he responded bluntly, then pointed to across the hallway to a wooden door on the other side. "There's a closet there. Choose some warm-up clothes, then come back. You have five minutes."

I stared at him incredulously.

"It would be in your best interest to change," he advised, giving me a gentle shove towards the door. I stumbled out into the hallway, then turned to glare, but the man had already retreated back into the room. With a sigh, I pushed open the other door.

Inside was a plain room with a bench running along the left side. A tall mirror leaned against the wall opposite the door, and a rack of clothing took up the remaining wall. Hanging off the rack were exercising clothes of all sizes. I looked through them for a minute or so before finally deciding on a loose pair of black shorts and a blue jersey with a black number 4 printed on the back. Exactly what I'd wear for soccer.

I changed quickly, then rushed back into the practice room, letting Shunsui take in my new outfit. I took this chance to look around the room, which I hadn't been able to do yesterday considering I hadn't had a chance to enter it. This room was even plainer than the changing room, with a dark wood floor and white walls. There was an assortment of swords on one wall, ranging from fencing rapiers to wooden swords like the one he'd tried to hit me with earlier. Other than that though, there wasn't much to see.

"That'll work," he decided finally. "From now on, try and bring your own clothes. Now, onto the lesson."

I gulped. He didn't miss it, and smiled.

"Relax," he said. "It's really not that hard."

I raised an eyebrow, not convinced. He walked over to the swords, and picked out three. The first was a slender fencing foil, the tip covered by a small rubber ball. The second looked like a club with a blade attached. The last was made of wood. One side of the wooden blade stayed straight while the other curved in to meet it at the point. He held them out to me.

"Pick your favorite," the man ordered.

I weighed all three carefully. The foil was light, but didn't seem stable enough for me. The second was too heavy. I could barely lift the thing! How'd he expect me to fight with it? The last was heavier than the foil, but much lighter than the club-like monstrosity. I decided on that one.

"This one, I guess," I held up the wooden one.

"Good choice," he approved, then picked up the heavier of the two others. "I'll be honest, I just pulled this one out to see your reaction. I didn't think you'd actually choose it, and I was right."

I rolled my eyes. When he finished congratulating himself, he threw the rejected swords into a corner. I just watched with disinterest. Until he told me to attack him.

"What? But you're not armed!" I protested.

"If I, a hardened professional, need a sword to defend against you, a complete novice, then _I'm_ the one who needs the lessons," he explained. My eye twitched in annoyance.

"I'm not holding back," I warned.

"I'm not expecting you to," Shunsui replied easily.

"You asked for it," I muttered, then leapt at him. He seemed a bit surprised at the suddenness of my attack, but he still dodged. Easily.

"Nice speed," he praised me. I didn't want praise. I wanted to kick his arrogant ass into next week. And I told him so. He laughed. "You just try, and see how far you get," he baited.

And for the next hour and a half, that's just what I did. I attacked relentlessly, and each time I did, he dodged, and I grew more frustrated. He made a few moves to attack, and each time that happened, I ended up on the floor. When he finally called a stop, I was panting, sweating, and exhausted, and he looked like he'd just walked out of a spa. Which, of course, made me madder.

"You have good endurance, speed, and power," he rattled off as I sat on the floor, gulping down water. "But you have way too many unnecessary movements. Your attacks don't flow, you have far too many openings, and your defense is virtually nonexistent. And you get angry too easily. Once you get angry in a fight, it's all over. When you're angry, you don't have good judgment skills, and you don't think straight. As you've just demonstrated."

"As much as I like listening to you tell me all the things I did wrong, are you actually going to teach me anything today?" I snapped.

"Not today," he answered. "We're out of time, and besides, today was a test."

"Did I pass?" I asked, curious despite myself.

"We shall see," he responded mysteriously, which told me absolutely nothing.

"Huh?"

"You'll understand someday."

"Uh-huh." I wasn't convinced.

"Just change and go home already," he ordered playfully. "I tire of your presence."

"Whatever."

I grudgingly did as I was told. When I walked out of the changing room, bag slung over one shoulder, and almost ran into Ichigo. He was waiting in front of the door, but his back was turned to me. He was staring at the training room, and I realized that he was probably waiting for me. I walked up and tapped him on the shoulder, anticipating his reaction with almost childish glee. I wasn't disappointed. He jumped at the touch, and whirled to face me. I gave him my best bored look. His eyes widened, and he blushed lightly in embarrassment.

"Is that what you derive your amusement from, you sick child?" he asked. "Making innocent bystanders jump three feet out of their skin?"

"That was an awfully complicated sentence," I observed. "Do you even know what half those words mean? Also, you were laying on the melodrama a little thick, don't you think?"

"That was a perfectly calculated amount of drama, you uncultured cretin," he responded in mock disapproval.

I snorted in response.

"Whatever you say, Your Great Scholarliness," I said with a bow.

"I _am_ great, aren't I?" he mused happily. "There should be statues erected in my honor."

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," I muttered.

"See that you do," was his response.

We looked at each other, then he started laughing. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. I wasn't really one for laughing, but that didn't mean I didn't have a sense of humor. We stayed like that for a while until Ukitake found us. He just watched silently for a few minutes, but when Ichigo showed no signs of stopping, he sighed, walked over, and hit him over the head. This time, it was my turn to laugh a little, while my companion whirled to face the white haired man in indignation.

"There are other ways of getting people's attention, you know," he informed Ukitake.

"I know," the man responded evenly. "I just choose not to use them. Physical violence is always the best course of action to take with you anyways."

My chuckles were starting to subside, so I said hi. He responded with a polite, "Hello, Hitsugaya-san. How'd you like your first day of practice?" My good mood dissipated quickly.

"Fine, I guess," I mumbled in response. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask about it.

"I see," he turned his attention to Ichigo. "Before your spazz-attack, did you get a chance to ask him what I sent you over here for in the first place?"

"Um," the orange haired boy looked at his feet sheepishly. "Not exactly."

"And by that you mean?"

"No."

"Ask me what?" I questioned.

Ukitake sighed. "I sent this _idiot_," he shot a glare at the boy, who thankfully had the grace to not look up. "To ask whether or not you're free tomorrow. It's a Saturday, after all."

"Yeah, I think so," I answered thoughtfully. "Why?"


	6. 6:Ichigo

**Hola! Guess what? It hasn't been a month yet, and I updated! You proud of me? ^^ As I've said before, my chapter lengths are generally inconsistent, but lately they've been ending up a little over 2,000. So...basically, I'm going to try to keep most of my chapters around there. Obviously, there's going to be some exceptions, but I've found that's a good length for me. For now, at least. **

**Your reviews make my day! Thanks a million to those of you who reviewed!**

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Not Normal

Chapter 6

Ichigo

I stared up at the house in front of me critically. It was a nice place, that I'd admit. Dove gray wood made up the outside, with white trim framing the roof and windows. The roof was shingled and navy blue, and it spread out in parts to partially cover the porch that wrapped around the front of the house. A neatly trimmed green lawn surrounded it, ending at the sidewalk I was standing on, and at the trees bordering the building. I liked it, but it was a little too neat looking for me. I wasn't sure what I had been expecting from Hitsugaya's house, but this wasn't it. Still, the building somehow fit.

My potential partner opened the door and walked out just as I thought that. When he raised his head and caught sight of me, his eyebrows lifted a few inches in mild surprise.

"Oh, you're actually on time," the boy observed. A vein pulsed on my forehead. Icy little bastard.

Why was I here again? Oh yeah, I was supposed to be helping Hitsugaya learn about supernaturals. Exactly how I wanted to be spending my Saturday: stuck in a library with an annoying kid.

"Is this a friend of yours?" a surprised voice asked from inside the house.

A brunette popped out from behind Hitsugaya, and I was met with a pair of warm brown eyes, big and doe-like, now trained on me.

"No, Momo, he is not," the white-haired teen responded flatly.

"Ouch," I feigned a wince, to which he only rolled his eyes.

"He's not?" the girl, Momo, asked with a puzzled stare. "Then why's he here?"

"Cause," was the unhelpful response.

"Fine," she muttered sulkily. "Don't tell me."

"I'm sort of like a tutor, I guess," I took pity on her, answering for him. Momo gave me a quizzical look.

"Tutor? But Shiro-chan always gets the highest marks in his classes..."

"What?" I guess I sounded more shocked than was necessary, because Hitsugaya sent me one of the darkest glares I'd ever seen.

"And why, pray tell, is that so hard to understand?"

"Um..."

"What he meant was _I'm _tutoring _him_," he lied smoothly to the girl. "He just confused them because he's quite dumb. Hence the tutoring."

"Oh," she paused, but seemed to accept the answer with a smile, which kind of pissed me off more than the original comment. "Alright then! Are you staying here?"

"No," we responded at the same time.

"We're going to the library," the boy continued, grabbing my wrist and towing me away. "See you later!" he called over his shoulder.

"Um, bye?" Momo blinked twice in confusion, not fully comprehending what had just happened. Her cousin was actually tutoring someone? How uncharacteristic of him. "Well, maybe he's trying to be more outgoing," she mused to herself happily, stepping back inside the house. "They seemed to get along well."

* * *

"So that girl was what, your sister?" I asked, finally breaking my wrist out of the brat's iron grip. He was deceptively strong, despite his fragile appearance. "You don't look alike."

"Cousin," he answered tersely. "She's staying with us for now because the college she's going to is really close."

"She's in college?!" The girl looked barely older than Hitsugaya! Was she really older than me?

"I know, my family's short," he snapped. "Get over it."

We lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. The day was warm, but fall was moving in quickly, as could be seen from the changing leaves adorning the trees lining the street, and the cool breezes that brushed past occasionally. He led me to a small park in his neighborhood, and I stopped.

"Why are we here?"

The boy plopped down on the ground next to a clear pond in the center, stretching out in a cat-like way. "It's too nice out," he declared. "I'm not going inside yet, and you can't make me."

For a minute, I just stared at him in disbelief. When he made no move to get up though, I sat down with a sigh. We sat by the pond in the center, skipping stones and enjoying the sun. I felt relaxed and happy, and found myself not really wanting it to end. But, of course, it had to.

"What now?" Hitsugaya asked with a sigh about half an hour later.

"Hm?" I responded lazily.

"I think we've wasted enough time here," he explained, regret laced through his words. "We should probably get to studying."

"Not yet," I said dismissively, not quite ready to go back to the _underground _base. "I'm kind of hungry. What do you say to grabbing some lunch first?"

"Sounds good," he agreed.

"What do you want?"

"Um," he thought for a minute. "How's Italian food sound?"

"Perfect," I said with a grin, then stood, brushing the dirt off my hands. He did the same. We headed into one of the busier parts of the city, and after much debating, decided on a little cafe a few blocks down from the White Lily. It was a nice place, and we sat outside, which made it infinitely nicer. The tables and chairs were made of black wrought iron curling in swirls and lines, with carved flowers scattered around, giving the impression of flowering vines. There was a white umbrella erected in the center of the table, providing some welcome shade. We talked quietly until our waiter showed up. Hitsugaya seemed to recognize him.

"G-Grimmjow?!" he asked in shock. "You work here?"

The waiter looked surprised too, eyebrows raising to almost touch his electric blue hair. "Yeah," he admitted grudgingly. "I needed the money. Who's your friend?"

"Not my friend," he responded immediately. "This is Ichigo. I'm tutoring him."

The blue-haired teen (Were strange hair colors popular in their school or something?!) didn't look convinced. "Whatever you say." Nothing else was said on the matter. "Well, moving on, what do you two want for lunch?"

"Pizza," my companion answered, thankful for the change of pace.

"Thought so," Grimmjow jotted it down on the small notepad in his hand. "Just cheese, right?"

"Yeah."

"How 'bout you?" He turned to me.

"Guess I'll have the spaghetti."

"Good choice," he wrote it down. "Drinks?"

"Water's fine," we responded at the same time.

He stared at us with a touch of skepticism, then shrugged. "Whatever. Makes my job easier. Be right back," he walked away, presumably to place our order.

"So he's got a job, huh?" Hitsugaya wondered, more to himself than me. "No wonder he's never around anymore."

"You two are good friends, then?" I asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I met him two years ago, when he transferred to my school."

"Hn." He took my response as a signal to continue.

"Actually, I didn't really like him at first," he admitted. "I thought he looked like a delinquent. That changed pretty quickly, though."

"What happened?" I asked. "Still looks like he could be in a gang to me."

He bit his lip, hesitating. "I used to be bullied when I first entered the school. I transferred at the beginning of the year, a few months before Grimmjow. A lot of people thought I skipped a few grades or something, which I didn't, cause of my height. That, plus my hair, kind of made me stand out, so..."

"Go on," I urged, genuinely curious.

"Well, one day I got to school and found my that some guys had spray-painted my locker as a joke. There were some swear words, and other stuff which I'll leave to your imagination. They even signed their names." Here, he snorted. "Idiots. Anyways, I ran away after that. The week had been bad so far, and I didn't need that shit right then."

I was surprised to hear the curse thrown in there, as it was a little unusual for him to just throw around swears like that.

"Anyways, Grimmjow's the one who found me afterwords. I don't even know if we'd _talked_ to one another before then, but I guess he'd seen me leave school and followed. I was in the same park as earlier, cause I didn't want to go back to the house yet. He asked what was wrong. I needed someone to talk to, and didn't want to go back to school to find Matsumoto or Renji. So, I told him what had been going on the last few months. He listened to my rant without any interruptions, then, of all things, he started _laughing _afterwords. Surprisingly, it calmed me down a lot."

It was kind of weird to hear Hitsugaya basically telling me a story like that with such a blank face. He started smirking at this point though.

"When I got to school the next day, I found out the other boys had been beaten up pretty badly, and that my locker was completely clean. He's never said it to me directly, but I can guess that Grimmjow holds at least partial responsibility for all that. We've been friends since then. Honestly, he's like the older brother I never wanted until I met him."

"Is that so?" came a gruff voice from behind him. He jumped. I'd seen the other boy approach, but hadn't wanted to interrupt.

"Grimmjow!" he exclaimed, cheeks flushing. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough," the other said, unashamed, and set down a glass of water in front of him.

A few moments of awkward silence followed while he put down our food. Hitsugaya reached for a slice of his pizza, but his friend was faster. Grimmjow snatched away a piece and bit into it, ignoring the boy's cries of indignation.

"Think of it as my tip," he winked, then sauntered away.

"Good, because you're not getting anything else!" Hitsugaya yelled after him. The blue-haired teenager's laughter faded as he walked away, and my companion resorted to sulking.

"Your pizza's getting cold," I pointed out before taking a bite of my own meal. That got his attention.

"Oh right," he grabbed a slice and bit down, savoring the flavor. "Mmmmm!" he mumbled something that sounded vaguely like "The pizza's great here!" through the food.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you not to talk with food in your mouth?" I reprimanded mockingly.

The boy swallowed. "Maybe she did, maybe she didn't."

"That makes sense," I muttered sarcastically. He shrugged. Silence fell on us as we ate. When Hitsugaya was full, he leaned back into his chair, apparently satisfied.

"...Thanks for listening," he said quietly.

"Hm?"

"Thanks for listening earlier," he repeated in embarrassment. "You're the first person I've ever told that story to. Even Matsumoto and Renji don't know what actually happened, though I think they can guess most of it." What he didn't say, and what I wouldn't know until long afterwords, was that this was the most he'd said to a single person since when he'd met Grimmjow in the first place.

"It's nothing," I mumbled awkwardly. I wasn't good with these sorts of things. More silence followed. I decided to go out on a limb. "If you ever need someone to talk to about that stuff, um, I'll, well, you know where to find me," I finished lamely, mentally kicking myself for how stupid that sounded.

He stared at me for a minute in surprise, then gave me a small smile. It was a beautiful, genuine smile, the kind that makes you feel warm inside. My stomach fluttered momentarily. What was that about?

"Thanks," was the soft response.

My food suddenly seemed very interesting. Hitsugaya seemed to think the same thing.

"Tutor, huh?"

We both jumped at Grimmjow's voice. The white-haired boy turned to glare at him.

"Will you stop doing that?" he yelled.

"Doing what?" the other asked innocently.

"You know what I mean! Don't play innocent with me!"

They continued like this for a while, Grimmjow's frown getting less prominent by the minute. By the end, he was laughing.

"What do you want, anyway?" Hitsugaya calmed down slightly.

"This," he held up the check, trying to regain control through his fit of chuckles. He sort of succeeded.

"Oh right," I remembered, taking the slip of paper from him.

"I'll-" Hitsugaya started, but I quickly cut him off.

"I'll pay," I said, fishing around in my pocket for my wallet. I checked the amount written on the check, then handed the blue-haired boy a few folded bills. He counted them quickly, then nodded.

"You want change?" he asked.

"Nah," I was in a good mood.

Grimmjow smirked at Hitsugaya, who was now scowling.

"Whatever," he grumbled. His friend reached over and ruffled his hair.

"See you on Monday," he said before walking away. Hitsugaya watched him leave, a smile tugging at his lips. I checked my cellphone for the time, then groaned.

"What?" he questioned.

"We got to go." I sighed. "Now."

"Okay." We left the restaurant, and headed down the street. There was little conversation. I guess we were both too wrapped up in our own thoughts.

I know I was.


	7. 7:Ukitake

**Too many tests! It's completely messing up my update schedule for everything! Very annoying. -.- Anyways, new perspective for this chapter! I'm trying something new, so please let me know if it's weird/confusing. I don't know if I got Ukitake's personality down right. He's a hard character for me to write about. **

**But moving on, thank you for all the reviews! I love you all!

* * *

**

Not Normal

Chapter 7

Ukitake

I looked down at my desk in dismay. Paperwork, paperwork, bill for the damage Ichigo caused to a building yesterday, and, what a surprise, more paperwork. Uh. Things never changed around here. When was the last time I'd been out of this city? Six months ago? A year? I needed a vacation.

"Ukitake?" A voice called from the doorway. "You there?"

"Yeah," I answered wearily. "You can come in Hitsugaya-kun."

The boy walked into my office with a small frown on his face. His hair was standing up in its usual gravity-defying spikes, and he looked like he'd just come from a serious workout. Which I guess he had. It had been two and a half weeks since Hitsugaya had started training with Shunsui, and according to him, he was making amazing progress. _'The quickest learner I've met in a long time. Probably my best student ever,'_ were his exact words.

I'd thought that would happen.

When I'd suggested (ordered) that the boy start training, I had already been able to tell that he'd be good at it. How? He'd just sort of struck me as that sort of person. Besides, if Hitsugaya was going to be Ichigo's partner, he needed to be a close range fighter. Ichigo fought with guns, and while he was adept at close range fighting, his strong point was definitely long range. So it made sense to have his partner be someone who fought up close, while he picked off enemies from afar.

I'd considered knives, but we didn't have a good instructor in the base at the moment. He looked too small to be able to effectively wield an ax or a mace, and besides, those were far too destructive. I already had Ichigo piling up damage reports on my desk, I didn't need another one like him. A spear or scythe would have been okay, but our instructors for both were on a mission together. Maybe they would've been back in time, but maybe they wouldn't have, and then he'd be in trouble. The kid needed to start immediately to even stand a remote chance of passing, so swords it was.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked kindly. I had a soft spot in my heart for kids, and while Hitsugaya was actually only a year younger than Ichigo, he looked much smaller. Plus, I didn't have to deal with him complaining all the time. Also, though my red-headed charge didn't realize it, it had been a long time since I'd seen him act so comfortable and, well, _childish_ around another person, and it was a relief to see. I sometimes felt like Ichigo had been deprived of a normal childhood, so it was good to see him acting his age for once.

I really wanted Hitsugaya to pass the exam. I had a feeling that he'd be a partner Ichigo would have his hands full with trying to get rid of. I wanted to help him, but I'd already reached the limit of what I could do. Anything else would be considered cheating, which would get the boy disqualified. So I had to sit back and have faith in his ability to win. Wonderful.

"Not really," he responded, breaking me out of my thoughts. "I was just wondering where the idiot's been lately."

"You miss him?" I teased. Hitsugaya gave me an icy glare, and I held up my hands in defense. "Just kidding!"

"Whatever," the diminutive teen sighed irritably. "So, where is he?"

"He's just investigating some reports about a vampire we've gotten lately," I replied with a smile. "It's probably nothing, but we've still got to check."

"Understandable."

"I'm glad you agree."

There was an awkward pause. Hitsugaya coughed uncomfortably.

"...See you later then," he finally said, re-adjusting the school bag on his shoulder before heading for the door. He grabbed the handle, but before the boy could turn it, the door burst open. Ichigo stormed in, dragging someone behind him.

"Ukitake!" he yelled, knowing full well that I was right in front of him. "Why the hell didn't you tell me she was back?!"

I tilted my head slightly, trying to get a better view of the person he was gripping by the collar. I smiled upon seeing who it was.

"I didn't tell you because I myself had no idea," I replied. "How wonderful of you to join us, Rukia, though this _was_ a bit sudden."

The girl in question grinned back, unashamed. "I wanted it to be a surprise." She'd acquired a slight French accent since I'd last seen her. The girl grabbed Ichigo's hand and removed it from her collar with a sharp twist. "That's no way to treat a lady, stupid."

He snorted. "What lady?"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Rukia replied. "Nice to see you haven't changed at all. Have your guns been fixed yet?"

"Yeah, they _finally_ have!" he snapped back. "And who's responsible for that?"

"Well, if you'd been a little easier to deal with-"

"You're the one who's impossible, midget! Don't patronize me!"

"I'm a midget, huh? Well, maybe you're just-"

"Ahem," I intervened before a fight broke out. "That's enough."

"Yes sir," they chorused.

"You're scaring Hitsugaya," I stated.

"He's still here?" Ichigo looked around curiously. "Where?"

"Right over there..." I trailed off. Hitsugaya was no longer in the room. "I guess he must have left."

Ichigo gave me an exasperated look. Rukia's eyes shifted back and forth between us, puzzled.

"Who's Hitsugaya?" she asked. Then, realization dawned in her eyes, and she trained her attention on Zen. "Is he your new partner? How long have you managed to keep him? A day? Two?"

"No, he's not my new partner," Ichigo said defensively.

"Then," he thought for a moment, then gasped in shock. "He's your-"

"_No_!" he denied hurriedly.

"You didn't even hear what I was going to say!"

"I don't want to."

"He's going to be a participant in the exam in December," I answered for him, tiring of the conversation. "Also, a potential partner for Ichigo."

"Poor guy," Rukia nodded sympathetically, then turned to the redhead. "But, you seem to like him, at least to some extent," she mused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you can stand talking about him, for one thing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked indignantly.

"You just usually don't want to talk about anything other than yourself."

"Not true," he responded flatly.

"True."

"Look, I'm just helping him a little with the exams."

"You never helped me when _I_ was preparing for the exam," Rukia shot back, not ready to give this up quite yet.

"You didn't need it."

"How would you know?" she countered. "We almost never spoke."

Rukia had passed the exam the last time it was held. I'd assigned her to be Ichigo's partner, but long story short, it hadn't gone well. She'd quit after a few hours, and refused to come out of her room in the base until I'd transferred her to France. She, like Hitsugaya, had trained with us for a few months before taking the exam. I'd had high hopes for her at the time, but as she'd just pointed out, Ichigo hadn't been too keen on spending time with her. In fact, he'd avoided her like the plague.

That was another thing that made Hitsugaya so different from everybody before him. It wasn't like pulling teeth trying to get Ichigo to spend time with him. In fact, he volunteered. At first, I'd taken it as a sign that the world was ending, but gradually, it had grown more natural over the previous weeks. Now, I hardly ever thought about it anymore.

Ichigo was being strangely quiet. He looked almost guilty, but I brushed away that possibility almost immediately. After all, this was him we were talking about. He didn't feel guilt. Right?

...Right? Geez, maybe he was changing more than I'd thought. I tried to picture a kind, thoughtful Ichigo. The thought made me shudder. I resolved to never remember that particular thought ever again, for the sake of my own sanity and that of those around me.

Silence fell on us. It was broken by my question to Rukia.

"So...why are you here again?"

She started to pout, and I predicted that I wouldn't like the answer. I wasn't disappointed.

"Well, uh, you see, it's a funny story," she stuttered. That wasn't like her. This was going to be really bad. "I think it'd be better if you read this instead of me telling you."

She held out a letter. I took it cautiously, my sense of foreboding growing stronger by the moment. The letter itself was plain, written in the scratchy, blunt writing of one of the co-supervisors of our branch in France. It was short, but it got the message across clearly.

_Ukitake,_

_As you asked two years ago, we took the sorceress Kuchiki Rukia under my wing. We tried to put up with her as long as we could, but we're at our wits end. That girl is a menace! For the good of our base and health, we cannot deal with her anymore, so we are returning her to you. She may come back to France once her attitude issues have been solved. Until then, please take her. She only seems to listen to you. We beg of you. You have our blessings._

_Best of luck,_

_Kotsubaki S. and Kotetsu K._

I sighed heavily. I'd sent Rukia there specifically because I thought that the two heads, both of which had trained under me at some point and were now sharing responsibility for the French branch, would be able to handle it. Apparently not though.

Still a bit disgruntled with the news, and surprised by the contents of the letter, I gave Rukua one of those what-did-you-do-this-time looks. "What exactly happened?

"Nothing much, really!" she tried to assure me, partially hiding behind an extremely annoyed Ichigo. "It was just a little misunderstanding. I didn't mean to blow up that building. Honest."

"You...blew up a building?" I repeated in disbelief.

"Didn't the letter tell you that?" she asked in a small voice. I shook my head mutely. She gulped. "Then why don't you just forget I said that?"

"What happened?" I sank back into my chair wearily, preparing myself for the worst.

"My partner and I were having a small argument," she started. I groaned, already able to see where this was going. She ignored my interruption and continued. "It was her fault really," she sulked. "If Nancy hadn't made me mad like that-"

"You had a partner named Nancy?" It was Ichigo who interrupted this time. She glared at him. "In _France_?"

"Yes, I did," she huffed. "And let me tell you, the girl was a handful."

"That's a lot coming from you," he replied snidely.

"Whatever," Rukia brushed it off. "Anyways, we had an argument, she made me mad, and I think you can guess the rest from there."

Indeed I could. The young sorceress' powers were largely controlled by her emotions, so when she lost control, like when she was angry, they went haywire. That, coupled with her headstrong personality, made her extremely hard to deal with. Also, though I would never say this to her face because rebuilding the headquarters didn't seem like a fun new past time, she could be a bit (very) temperamental.

"How long's she here?" I heard Ichigo ask nervously.

"That depends on her," I answered vaguely.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, simply put, they don't want her back in France until she learns how to control herself," I summarized. He stared at me in confusion for a minute, piecing together what I'd just said. The realization hit him hard, and his mouth dropped open.

"_She's staying here forever?!?!_"

_**~NN~**_

A tan boy sat alone in a restaurant, glaring at his ringing cell phone. The device read the name of his boss, who he didn't feel like talking to at the moment. The person gave him headaches. Still, he couldn't exactly ignore them. So with decided reluctance, he answered.

"Hello," he said, masking his annoyance well.

"Sexta, how nice of you to pick up," a cool voice replied from the other end. "I almost thought you weren't going to answer for a minute."

"Sorry, didn't hear it ringing," he lied.

"Then you're forgiven."

"What're you calling about?"

"Getting straight to the point, aren't you?"

"I'm busy."

"Alright, whatever you say. I'm calling because Gin told me what you said the other day about the shadow police."

"Okay."

"And I think I agree. You're right, they do need to be taught a lesson."

Sexta absently wondered what could have possibly happened to make this decision, but decided not to comment. "And?" he urged his boss on, impatient.

"You are free to do as you see fit."

The boy gave a small smile. "Thank you," he replied.

"Think nothing of it," was the response. "Oh, and you haven't forgotten that I'm coming to your city in December, have you?"

"Of course not."

"Alright then," the caller said smoothly. "See you soon."

"Whatever. Bye." he ended the call gruffly, allowing his smirk to grow bigger as he thought about all his new options. He was going to enjoy this.


End file.
